a bleeding purple utah jazz blog

A perfect balance between unabashed homerism and unclassiness

This was originally an odd and end on the last post, but it got too long quick.

I don’t know when it happened, but somewhere along the way KFAN turned into everything you hate about other teams’ homer crews. Due to the time difference, most of my KFAN listening okurs when Locked on Sports (which is now hosted by 3-4 people due to Locke often being away with the team) and pre-game shows are on, and the quality of commentary has plunged down a steep ravine lately. I tune in for the player interviews and news, but when it’s just those guys talking (and by talking I mean “screaming at and insulting listeners who don’t agree with them”), I am left astounded that they are allowed on air.

The following is just the most recent example.

Deron was asked by the beat writers about the Ronnie B trade, and he said, “I think if we’d make a trade it would be something a little different than that. You look at all the teams that are getting better around the West and we essentially get worse, if you ask me.” (sltrib)

The Locked on Sports crew ripped him a new one for saying that, and Bagley in particular blasted Deron for being immature and unprofessional, called him a kid throwing a tantrum, and said that his comments proved that Deron isn’t the team leader. Really? You say all that, and you accuse DERON of overreacting? (This post isn’t about defending Deron, but if fans and all the Jazzmen agree with his sentiments, how do his comments say anything about his leadership?)

KFAN wouldn’t be KFAN without some squelching Boozer ass-sucking.* Bagley went on to say that while Boozer said all the same things as Deron, he was the voice of reason, not to mention under control, had a better tone, and said everything the right way. The other guy then got in on the act, saying that Boozer was dead on, and handled himself extremely well.

By the end of the show, they’ve concluded that a) Ronnie Brewer wasn’t that good a player; b) the trade is a great move for the franchise, and that the acquisition of the “future asset” could turn into the Knicks pick 10 years down the line. Therefore, Jazz fans and Deron should suck it up even if we have to wait five years to see how it turns out.

Locked on Sports ends, and the pre-game show begins. Nissalke gets on air and says that Jerry and KOC must have thought that Ronnie B wasn’t good enough, because if he were, they wouldn’t have traded him for “nothing” (at least he admitted the Jazz got nothing back for Ronnie). Said Nissalke, Jerry could have stopped the trade if he’d wanted to, but there were enough flaws in Brewer’s game that Jerry must have said, let’s go ahead and do it.

(For the record, Jerry said post-trade, “I was serious when I said I’m not crazy about making trades.”)

Then, when reports came in that Ronnie B–in his first game with the Grizz–had been taken off the court in a wheelchair, Nissalke’s reaction was, “Maybe the Jazz knew something.” Just class acts all around at KFAN.

The only reason they have two guys in the studio at all times is so they can do this:

*I never even posted about the day a few months ago when the LoS crew was discussing Boozer as usual, and Bagley rationalized Boozer’s summer tour de whore with a story about how Utah was toxic to Carlos and CeCe’s marriage, and that as Utah wasn’t a place they wanted to return to, Carlos said all that stuff in Chicago and Miami to placate CeCe and so that he would be able to tell her, “I’m trying [to get us out of Utah], I’m doing what I can.”

After going on about how Carlos was the Jazz’s most consistent and best player, and only and best leader (and mind you, this was early in the season when the Jazz were losing a lot of games), they started saying that Carlos was “playing the game” and getting his name out there to get people talking, and that the ball WAS in management’s court. They also stated that Boozer had two of the best Playoff games in Jazz franchise history, including the Stockton to Malone era.

KFAN wouldn’t be KFAN without some squelching Boozer ass-sucking, and KFAN also wouldn’t be KFAN without dissing Millsap every time Boozer comes up. According to LoS, Sap is a nice guy, but he’s not a leader and can’t fill in for Boozer. Do enlighten me, you’re basing that on…what, exactly? A comparison of Millsap’s bench stats against Boozer’s starting stats? Millsap’s maturity as a third-year player against Boozer’s as a seven-year player? Give me a break.

A few weeks later, when Sap started tearing it up, the LoS crew started asking listeners to call in with ideas on how to get Sap more minutes BUT with the caveat that no one could mention Boozer or suggest decreasing Boozer’s minutes. @_@

What is wrong with these people??? Don’t they, as members of the media, have a responsibility to be professional, objective, and put their own personal agendas aside when doing their jobs? When the things you say make people wonder, among other things, whether Boozer is paying you on the side, you might just have a problem.